By Any Other Name (21 page)

"Fuck… if… I… will," Dru ground out from between his teeth. His small form moved like a well-honed weapon, delivering punch after punch, until his hands got tired and he stepped back. Thom thought he was stopping, but no such luck. Instead, Dru lunged at the bag and delivered a roundhouse kick that would have knocked a human clean out. And then another, and another. High, aggressive kicks that would have terrified Thom if there were a possibility of the actions ever being directed at him—or anyone else, really.

Thom went to the elliptical and began his standard workout. He kept an eye on Dru, who was steadily running out of steam. When he did, he just dropped down where he was and pulled his knees to his chest.

"You okay?" Thom asked, and Dru nodded.

"Just gonna… sit here… a bit," Dru panted, and Thom concentrated on what he was doing instead of crowding his lover.

After a while, Dru began to stretch and do some yoga to relax. Then he got to his feet and went to the shower to rinse off the sweat and tears Thom suspected were there. His muscles would be sore tomorrow, and he’d be cranky like he always was after an emotional workout like this, but that was the price his proud lover paid when he got his heart broken one way or the other. Sometimes, when he was feeling very pitiful, Dru seemed to lose the cocky attitude everyone seemed to think he had, but Thom knew better. Dru was the proudest person Thom knew, someone who had been raised to act like the entitled brat that he had been even at the age of twenty, when they had met. But Thom had taught him that a person’s value wasn’t in his possessions, and Dru had learned new things. Especially after he had met Thom’s family a few times.

Speaking of his family, Thom wondered when his sister would call and ask them to babysit again. It was about time for their evening of “Fun with JT” that happened every couple of months. Laura did know they had Skye living with them, so maybe she was waiting for them to contact her first. Of one thing Thom was sure, though: his sister would come up with the necessary excuses for him and Dru to avoid the family dinners until Skye was settled properly. That was
if
he were ever settled and ready to meet the family.

When Thom got out of the shower after his workout, Dru was waiting for him outside the door, leaning against the wall casually. He was up to no good.

“I put the laundry in the dryer and the next whites in,” he started, and Thom raised a brow at him in a “what are you up to now?” expression.

“Axel called. He wants us to be there for the reopening of the club,” Dru said, and Thom nodded, walking past him to check on the lasagna.

“When is it?” Thom asked as he looked into the oven. When Dru had agreed to work on the new website for Axel’s gay club, Axel had figured he might as well redo some of the decorations in the place, and then a bit more than that, and suddenly both the club and the website were getting proper makeovers.

“Tomorrow.” Dru looked at him, eyes wide and puppy-dog-like.

“Call Kara, ask Skye,” Thom said, and Dru was going to open his mouth again, but he held a hand up. “No, babe. You do your own dirty work.”

Dru huffed but picked up the phone and dialed Kara’s number. From what Thom could tell, it took some time for Dru to apologize for his earlier behavior. When he did, he seemed more relaxed, and Thom was sure he would see the payoff of it all. The plan for Friday night was proposed to Kara, who was enthusiastic, naturally.

“Yeah, we’ll ask Skye. Don’t know if he’ll come. Yeah, sure, that would be great,” Dru said to the phone and then hung up.

“She’ll stay home with Skye if Skye doesn’t want to come,” Dru filled Thom in.

They were setting the table when Skye walked down the stairs.

“Skye, you know that club I’ve done the website for, right?” Dru asked before Skye could say a thing.

“Yeah, why?” Skye looked at Dru, who was avoiding eye contact. Thom could tell it made Skye feel uneasy.

“It has a grand reopening tomorrow night, and we’re invited. So we’re going, and Kara wants to go too. How about you?” Dru asked, walking to the fridge for the drinks.

Skye looked at Thom behind Dru’s back, but Thom couldn’t make himself react with more than a shrug of his shoulders as he lifted the pan out of the oven to cool down a bit.

“A gay club, right? With tons of people?” Skye verified.

“Yeah, lots of half-naked guys dancing and grinding, and loud music….” Dru hummed contentedly and made Thom chuckle. “I know, I know, look and touch all you want if it’s not too intimate, and no kissing.” Dru grinned at his partner.

“Exactly. I’ve trained you well, babe.” Thom grinned and Dru swatted his shoulder in passing.

“And you’re sure Kara is going?”

“Yeah, she loves these things. She’s the one of us who usually drags me and Dru to the clubs. Likes to see boys, I guess.” Thom grinned.

“Can we, like… if I can’t handle it, can one of you take me home?” Skye asked, looking insecure for a while.

“Sure, Kara promised that if you don’t want to go, then she’d stay at home with you,” Dru said, and Skye pondered the scenario for a while.

“Okay… I suppose I can come with you guys,” he finally said as they settled down for dinner.

“Yay!” Dru said and looked much more relaxed than Thom could’ve hoped for.

Thom
went upstairs and attacked the dresser after dinner. Fixing it wasn’t difficult; it was just one of those things you never got around to doing around the house because there was always something else that was more important.

He had moved all the things from the drawers and on top of the dresser onto their bed and pulled the dresser away from the wall to fix the part that made the top drawer get stuck and tightened every screw he could to make sure the thing would stay sturdy in the future. In fact he had done everything he could think of, including being on his knees on the floor with some tools nearby, when his cell went off somewhere in the house.

“Fucking great,” he murmured and missed hitting his head on the corner of the dresser drawer by a fraction of an inch as he scrambled back to his feet. Luckily his cell was upstairs on Dru’s desk, and he picked it up before the caller disconnected.

“Thom speaking,” he said. It was after hours, so it wasn’t likely it was a work call.

“Thom, it’s Oscar,” the apologetic voice said.

“Oh. Hi,” Thom managed. He had wondered how long it would take for Oscar to contact him again.

Thom had been so pissed off at his behavior. It wasn’t only that he had insulted Thom’s life partner again, it was also the fact that he had made Skye upset and could have set him back for weeks. It had taken them a while to get him to go back to the mall again, even with the little damage that had happened.

“So… I was thinking, are you free tonight? Could we go somewhere for drinks or…?” Oscar asked hesitantly.

“I don’t really have time tonight,” Thom said and heard Oscar sigh. “Not because I don’t want to, I’m just elbow deep in the fucking dresser I’ve been meaning to fix for about a year now.” He let a bit of a chuckle into his voice to let his friend know it wasn’t because he didn’t want to hang out anymore.

The sound, a relieved sigh, made Thom’s conscience twitch a little. Yeah, maybe he should have called first and way before now. They had been friends for years, after all.

“Oh, okay, well, some other time, then. Are you guys going to Axel’s reopening?” Oscar asked, and they spent a while discussing the website and the party, which Oscar couldn’t attend as he had a previous commitment for the evening.

They ended the call on a positive note, and Thom went back to working on the dresser. When he finally emerged from the bedroom, the dresser worked fine, everything had been put back in place, and he was covered in dust. The tool belt hung low on his hips, and his ragged old T-shirt, reserved for these rare occasions, had dust and sweat stains all over. He felt disgusting, but he decided to take the tools back to the utility room first before showering.

When he was passing the living room, he saw the guys watching some sitcom. They weren’t sitting close to each other, but they didn’t look hostile either. Maybe things would work out after all?

“Who called?” Dru asked, not looking away from the TV.

“Oscar,” Thom said and saw his lover’s jaw tighten a little.

“Oh,” the blond said.

“He apologized again and asked me to hang out one evening when we have time. I’m going to, because he’s sorry, he knows he overreacted, and he’s probably my best friend, Dru.” Thom’s tone was calm, he hoped.

Dru nodded, and then Skye, apparently a bit uncomfortable with the situation, turned his gaze to Thom. Skye made a funny gasping sound that prompted Dru to look up too.

“Damn, honey, you look hot,” Dru said in a very appreciative tone, smirking a bit.

“Erm… thanks?” Thom asked and looked at Skye, who blushed a little bit and averted his eyes. Interesting—Skye had been checking him out too. Thom smirked inwardly. He rolled his eyes and went to put the tools away.

Dru

“So you’re
sure this is okay?” Skye asked for the thousandth time as he passed the bedroom door with Thom on the way downstairs. Dru heard Thom murmur something reassuring.

Dru shook his head and snickered. It was sort of endearing how insecure Skye was with the clothing Dru had picked up for him to wear for the night.

Dru himself was pulling on black leather pants that clung to his skin and a white tank top that showed his physique perfectly as well. If that didn’t get him attention, nothing would. Besides, he needed to represent tonight; it was his party too, or so Axel had said. The website was finally up and running, and it was gathering hits and positive feedback like nothing Dru had built before.

After styling his hair in the slightly spiky fashion he knew drove Thom wild, he grinned at the mirror and ignored the not-so-cheerful side that tried to surface from within. As he jogged down the stairs, he noticed the others waiting for him. Thom had on his black jeans and a blue button-down with rolled-up sleeves. Dru loved that shirt; it was almost the same color as Thom’s eyes, making them pop like nothing else, and hell if it wasn’t hot to see his lover dressed up like that. Naturally Thom wore a suit almost every day for work, but it was something Dru was used to. These skin-tight jeans with the casual yet still dressy shirt….

And then there was Skye. Dru had insisted his friend wear the low-riding jeans they had gotten from the mall. They showed all of Skye’s assets, and boy were there assets. The shirt was a tight fit too, yet it hid all of the scars, other than the faint ones on his arms. It was black, the shirt, the only color Skye had approved to wearing tonight. Well, he still looked edible, which once again reminded Dru of what he was missing and would keep missing, damn it.